The presses will continue to roll for Windsor-Essex's major daily newspaper.
Unifor Local 240, one of the three unions representing employees at the Windsor Star, confirmed via social media that their members had ratified their tentative contract deal with the Star's parent company, Postmedia.
The Joint Council of Unions, which is the bargaining unit on behalf of Local 240, Unifor 517-G and CAW Local 30553, handled the negotiations with Postmedia.
Members were invited to attend an information session at the union hall on Somme Ave. Sunday, then vote on the deal.
The three-year deal was approved by 91% of those participating in the vote.
Employees earning less than $20/hr will get a 1% raise on June 3. All employees will also get a 0.5% raise in May 2020. The JCU says over the past seven years, Star employees received a total 1% wage hike.
In addition, Local 240's official Facebook page says benefits were kept for current and retired employees, as well as a defined benefit pension plan.
The affected employees of the Star, about 180 in all, overwhelmingly approved a strike mandate in December 2017. This agreement was reached on Friday night, hours before a midnight strike deadline.
The majority of the members work part-time hours and are based at either the paper's printing plant off E.C. Row, or the Star's downtown offices and newsroom.
Contract negotiations had been tense with Postmedia, which had been enduring criticism for cutting newsroom jobs and shutting down numerous online and small-town newspapers across the country, while giving their executives huge bonuses. Postmedia says print publications need to adapt to changing technology and news appetites in the face of falling circulation and advertising revenue.
https://twitter.com/UniforLocal240/status/993186279591415809